Perler Bead Skulls For Halloween
/These Perler Bead Sugar Skulls for Halloween are easy to make and perfect for adding a Día de los Muertos-inspired touch to your decorations. Grab your favourite colourful fuse beads and create your own collection of spooky sugar skull designs!
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Perler Bead Sugar Skulls.
Looking for a colourful Halloween craft that's a little different? These Perler bead skulls are such a fun project to make!
I’ve always loved rediscovering old crafts and giving them a new twist, and Perler beads (also known as Hama beads or fuse beads) are one of those crafts that instantly take me back to childhood.
I hadn't played with them for years until I came across a big tub of beads and couldn't resist having another go.
Related: Printable Halloween Wreath
What are Perler beads?
If you've never used them before, Perler beads are small plastic beads that you arrange on a pegboard to create a design.
Once you're happy with your pattern, you cover the beads with ironing paper and gently heat them with an iron. The heat melts the beads just enough to fuse them together.
They're sometimes called Hama beads or fuse beads, depending on the brand.
For these skulls, I used some of these free Mexican Day of the Dead cross-stitch designs as inspiration and adapted them to fit my pegboard.
Supplies:
An Iron
A Heavy Book
Optional: ribbon or string if you'd like to turn your finished skulls into hanging decorations.
1. Place your pegboard on a flat surface and start arranging your beads according to your pattern.
A pair of bead tweezers can be really helpful here. The beads are tiny and it can be fiddly getting them into exactly the right position, especially when you're working with lots of different colours.
Tip: Keep your different bead colours separated in small bowls or containers so they're easy to find as you work.
2. Once you're happy with your design, carefully place a sheet of ironing paper over the top of the beads.
Make sure the entire design is covered before you start ironing.
3. Set your iron according to the instructions for your beads and gently move it over the ironing paper.
I found that moving the iron in small circular motions helped the beads melt evenly. Keep checking your design as you go; you want the beads to fuse together without melting them too much.
4. Once it's completely cool, carefully peel the paper away.
Perler bead designs can sometimes curl as they cool. To help prevent this, place a heavy book or another flat, heat-resistant object on top of the finished design while it cools.
And that's it! Your colourful Day of the Dead Perler bead skulls are ready.
You can leave them as they are and use them as little decorations, or add a piece of ribbon or string to turn them into hanging decorations.
They could also make fun Halloween party decorations or colourful coasters.
You can find the 3 designs below:
The great thing about them is that you can create almost any pixel-style design. Cross-stitch patterns make great templates because you can easily translate each stitch into a bead.
